Gelman: Workers' Compensation and the New Virtual Reality

Friday, April 10, 2020 | 0

The COVID-19 pandemic has abruptly changed how hearings will be conducted before the New Jersey Division of Workers Compensation.

Jon L. Gelman

In light of state of emergency orders announced by Gov. Pat Murphy that mandate social distancing and restricted travel, the division has embarked upon limited virtual hearings.

The division announced on April 8, 2020, in a notice to the bar, that:

All administrative supervisory judges and supervising judges shall continue to be designated by the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the N.J. Division of Workers’ Compensation as essential personnel and shall hear as many workers’ compensation matters as possible in their home vicinage by telephonic conferencing, and if possible by video conferencing, including all emergent matters and the following non-emergent matters, pre-trial conferences, general motions for medical and temporary benefits, and settlements by affidavit.

There will be no in-person Workers’ Compensation Court proceedings (except for extremely limited emergent matters and certain ongoing motions for medical and temporary benefits and trials, in which case social distancing will be enforced).

The Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims and Division of Administrative Hearings have established rules to operate a model virtual system to remotely swear in witnesses. David Langham, deputy chief judge of compensation, posted an outline of the procedure utilized in Florida that permits that system to operate efficiently and effectively.

New Jersey is going in the right direction to service the citizens and employers of the state. It needs to take the next step forward, including adopting rules to allow full plenary hearings, including actual testimony to proceed, as we enter the new virtual reality of workers’ compensation.

Claimants' attorney Jon L. Gelman is the author of "New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Law" and co-author of national treatise "Modern Workers’ Compensation Law." He is based in Wayne, New Jersey. This blog post is republished with permission.